


A Miraculous Carol

by KawaiiKonekohime



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Gabriel Being Gabriel, Gabriel-Centric, Happy Ending, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, Redemption, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiKonekohime/pseuds/KawaiiKonekohime
Summary: Gabriel Agreste is tired of Adrien's suspicious behavior. Being the control freak he is, he decides to install survelliance cameras in his son's room and gets the surprise of a lifetime! Nathalie convinces him to sleep on the new information instead of blindly attack. As it turns out, his decision to do so may alter the course of his entire fate.Loosely based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.





	A Miraculous Carol

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this pile of Gabriel Redemption. On to the story!

“Are you sure about this, Sir?” Nathalie asked with an uneasy look on her face. She handed him the remote to the surveillance system he commanded be installed. “It is a little…unconventional.”

“Unconventional?” Gabriel repeated, looking over the remote. “Not nearly. Plenty of people have surveillance cameras in their homes.”

“Focused on their son’s room?” Nathalie asked with a raised eyebrow. “I am pretty sure it’s crossing a line, Sir.”

“The boy is hiding something,” Gabriel said. “He’s went missing twice now, that we know of—once at Christmas and the incident last week, and since you and the Gorilla—.”

“His name is—,” Nathalie automatically went to correct him but stopped herself when she remembered who she was talking to.

“—seem to be unable to keep an eye on him,” Gabriel continued, shooting Nathalie a sharp glare, “I must do so as his father. Adrien is supposed to be practicing the piano right now, yes?”

Nathalie check her tablet and glanced over Adrien’s schedule. “Yes, sir. He has piano practice for the next ten minutes, then it’s time for his Chinese lesson.”

Gabriel gave a noncommittal hum and pressed the button on the remote to activate the surveillance cameras. The image of Adrien’s room appeared on his computer’s screen. “Then, let’s confirm that, shall we?”

Together, they walked to the computer. Nathalie’s eyes widened, and she let out a small gasp. “He’s not there,” she said in surprise.

“Anything else obvious you want to point out?” Gabriel asked, cynicism laced in his voice.

“I’ll get the entire police force on this immediately, Sir,” Nathalie quickly assured. “We’ll have him home before you know it.”

Gabriel raised a hand to stop her. “Don’t bother,” he said. “He’ll be back in ten minutes. We will speak with him then.”

“How do you know he’ll be back in ten minutes, Sir?”

“You said it yourself, Nathalie. That’s when his Chinese lesson starts. He’s snuck away. He has to be back in time to make sure that goes unnoticed.”

Nathalie opened her mouth to say something but stopped when something on the screen started to move. She and Gabriel focused their attention on the screen just in time to see Chat Noir slip through the bedroom window.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. He expected his son to come through the window, not one of the two banes of his existence. “Impossible!” he hissed.

In a flash of green light, Chat Noir transformed back into Adrien. Adrien turned off the MP3 player and sat at the piano. He smiled and spoke to something not visible to the camera.

“Who is his talking to?” Nathalie asked.

“A kwami,” Gabriel growled. He turned off the screen. “They aren’t detectable with cameras. But I know he has one, because he’s Chat Noir! Chat Noir! My own son!”

Gabriel stormed out of the office. Nathalie followed closely behind. “Sir!”

“My own son working against me! Foiling my plans right under my nose! I’ll destroy him for this!”

“Sir, wait!”

“And worse—I was too blind to see something so obvious!” He quickly stomped towards Adrien’s bedroom.

Nathalie stopped and said quickly, “Sir, he doesn’t know your identity! You can use this to your advantage.”

That got Gabriel’s attention. He stopped and turned to face his assistant. “How so?”

“Well, first,” Nathalie explained. “You know where the Black Cat Miraculous is already. You only need to find the Ladybug Miraculous now. If you go in there and throw a fit, he’ll know something is wrong. The last thing you want is to make Chat Noir suspicious.”

Gabriel scowled. As much as he hated to agree, Nathalie had a very good point. Raising suspicion when he finally knew something the heroes did not would not be in his best interest. He needed to play this carefully and be smart if he wanted to stay one step ahead.

His calm demeanor returned, and he placed his hands behind his back. “I’ll be in my study for the rest of the day,” he announced. “Prepare Adrien for his Chinese lesson.”

He walked past her and back to his office. He slammed the door behind him.

Nathalie sighed. “Yes, sir,” she said, despite knowing that Gabriel could no longer hear her. “Of course, sir.”

 

Gabriel Agreste had a bad habit. Whenever he was angry, he would surround himself with work, even more than usual. Tonight, anger could not even begin to describe his emotions. He boiled with unadulterated hatred. Hatred for Adrien, hatred for himself, and hatred at whoever in the cosmos thought it was a good joke to pit father and son against each other.

He did not know how long he stared that the designs scattered over his desk and around his office, but after a while, they all started to look the same. He tried to work for a few minutes more, but his vision began to blur. It must have been later than he anticipated.

He pressed a button on his phone, so it was display the time. “Great,” he muttered. “2 a.m. already…”

He stood and started to stack the papers on his desk.

“Master,” a voice called.

He stopped for a moment. “Nooroo?” he asked. Usually the little kwami would retire by now. Why was he still awake?

“Master,” the voice called again. Nooroo phased through the door and floated up to Gabriel. “Master, you have to change your ways.”

Gabriel glowered. “This again?” he snapped. “You know where I stand, Nooroo.”

“Master,” Nooroo insisted. “Do you really think you’re the only Miraculous wielder to ever go rogue? I’ve seen it before and you’re quickly approaching a point of no return. I’m worried about you!”

“If you are quite done wasting my time,” Gabriel said as he walked past the kwami. “I will be going to bed now.”

“You’ll be visited by three ghosts tonight,” Nooroo warned as he followed close behind Gabriel. “One will come at 3 a.m., another at 4 a.m., and the last at 5 a.m. They’ll take the forms of people you know but, they all have extremely important messages to share. Listen to them closely, Master!””

“Sure, sure,” Gabriel said, waving off the little kwami’s warning nonchalantly. “I’d care if I believed in ghosts. Besides, ghosts stand no chance. I have you.” He yawned as he walked into his bedroom.

Gabriel could not remember making it to his bed. Apparently, he did, though, because that is where he woke up shivering soon after. He groaned and opened one eye. His cover was on and the room was kept at a warm temperature, so he could sleep comfortably. Why was he suddenly so cold?

He sat up and looked at the clock. 2:59 am. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He would be a mess at the morning board meeting at this rate. At this point, he had not even gotten one full hour of sleep.

Suddenly, the zip of a yoyo broke the room’s silence. Gabriel felt a tight string wrap around his ankle. “What…?” he asked aloud in confusion. He threw the covers off.

His eyes widened. It was dark, but he could make up the red and black spotted yoyo that wrapped around his ankle. “Oh, good,” a feminine voice echoed around the room. “You’re awake.”

The yoyo’s string tightened as someone yanked it. Gabriel yelped as he was forcefully dragged from his bed by his ankle. He screamed when the yoyo continued to pull him with an increasing speed. When he realized that that the yoyo’s string continued through the golden door of his room, his scream grew louder.

He winced and braced from the horrible pain running at top speed into a door would bring, but it never came. He continued down the hallway. He gave the path he traveled a backwards glance. The door was still unscathed.

Gabriel did not get a chance to wonder how or why. He finally slowed to a stop. The yoyo slackened, then with a zip, unwrapped from his ankle and returned to its owner. Gabriel sat up and rubbing his now pained ankle. He looked up with distain at the person that dared pull him from his bed at 3 a.m.

Ladybug laughed lightly as his irritated expression. “Have fun, Hawkmoth?”

“How do you who I am?” Gabriel demanded to know immediately. “How did you get in my house? And most important of all, how dare you!?”

Ladybug chuckled and held a hand out to help him to his feet. He swatted her hand away. “Although I may look like Ladybug,” she explained, retaining her happy countenance. “This is just the form that I take in front of you. I am the ghost of Miraculous Past.”

Gabriel felt a headache coming on. “You’ve got to be kidding me… Am I dreaming? Am I drunk? Because, I know for a fact that ghosts are not real. Especially ghosts sent by kwamis to warn me about ‘straying down the wrong path.’”

Ladybug simply shrugged. “Believe what you want,” she said. “It makes no difference to me! Either way, I’m here to take you to the past you’ve forgotten.”

Ladybug threw her yoyo on the ground. It glowed with a harsh light. Suddenly the light erupted from the yoyo and formed a portal. Ladybug smiled and held out her hand for him to take. “Come along.”

Gabriel wearily looked at the portal, then at the ghost.

Ladybug laughed lightly. “We’re going to have to hold hands for this one, Hawkmoth.”

It took a moment of hesitation, but Gabriel finally took Ladybug’s outstretched hand. Ladybug gave him a reassuring smile and led him through the portal.

Gabriel shielded his eyes from the bright light that surrounded them as they traveled through the portal. When the light dimmed again, they no longer stood in the mansion, or in the city of Paris, for that matter. He looked around. He immediately recognized everything. The French countryside, the sleepy village that stood in front of them, the tiny, rundown cottage on the edge of town. “Where are we?”

“You tell me,” Ladybug responded in the same beat.

Gabriel bit his lip. He answered, “Emelie and my childhood village. It’s where we lived before I launched Gabriel and we moved to Paris.”

“Humble beginnings.”

Gabriel huffed. “I’d rather not think about it.”

“Which is exactly why I brought you,” Ladybug retorted. “Usually the things we try to forget are the ones we need to remember the most. You recognize this day, don’t you?”

“Every day was about the same here. There’s nothing special about this one.”

“Are you sure?” Ladybug asked. “Let’s get a closer look.” She took his hand and led him to the cottage at the edge of town.

They peered into the window. “What are you doing, Gabriel?” a blond-haired little girl asked her companion. Her bright green eyes stared curiously at the mannequin that the little boy was currently dressing.

“Making a new dress for you,” the little boy, Gabriel, replied. One glance at the man that stood beside her told Ladybug that she suspected correctly. They were watching the childhood versions of Emelie and Gabriel.

Emelie’s expression turned sheepish. “My papa says that’s girl’s work. He doesn’t want me to hang out with you anymore…”

Gabriel froze. The adult Gabriel mimicked his reaction, remembering how painful it was to hear someone so precious to him say that. The child cleared his throat. “Oh?” he asked, his voice shakier than he intended. “And what do you think, Em?”

Emelie was silent. She stepped closer and ran a gentle hand over the dress. “I think I want to keep hanging out with you for a very long time.” She smiled brightly. “I can’t wait for my dress to be ready!”

Little Gabriel looked at Emelie with surprised eyes. “Really?”

Emelie smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “There’s not a better designer in the world than you! I want to model everything you make!”

A fierce blush crossed little Gabriel’s face. “I-I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ladybug smiled softly. “Would you look at that?” she mused. “Childhood love. Now I understand why this day was so important. It’s the day you realized that you loved Emelie.”

Gabriel sighed and nodded slowly. “I was eleven. She was nine. She had been my best friend since we were seven and five. She used to follow me everywhere, then suddenly…”

“The roles reversed?” Ladybug asked with a light laugh.

Gabriel smiled at the nostalgia. “I used to do everything in my power to impress her. I wrote her songs, I took her on picnics, but nothing made her happier than when I had a new design for her to model. So, I poured my everything into making the next design better than the last, just to see her smile.”

Ladybug smiled softly as well. “How sweet. But not everyone thought so?”

Gabriel’s smile faded as the scene before them changed. They now stood in front of the largest house in the village.

“And stay out!” a gruff voice shouted as the door opened. A lanky man went flying out of the house and landed hard in the yard.

The young man pathetically sat up just in time to see the man that threw him throw the beautiful wedding dress as well. “No!” the young man shouted, hastily catching the dress before it could land in the dirt.

“You’ve got some nerve,” the man yelled. “Like my daughter would marry some…some dress making pansy!” He slammed the door.

The young man bit back tears. Anyone could look and tell that the dress was Gabriel’s greatest creation. He made it for one specific occasion and now, his beautiful muse would never get the chance to wear it.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “I always hated that pompous man,” he confided in Ladybug. “He always thought I wasn’t good enough for his daughter. He was right, of course, but I loved her. I couldn’t let him keep us apart. She…she was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“And something tells me that you’re not the only one that felt that way,” Ladybug said. She gestured to the scene that continued to play out.

Emelie quietly slipped through the backdoor of the house. She ran beside him. “Gabriel…”

“I was an idiot to think that I even had a shot,” he said softly, folding up the dress. “We’ll never be together.”

“Well,” Emelie mumbled. She took the dress in her hands. “I think that is my decision, rather than my father’s.”

The young Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Emelie... You’re saying…?”

“I want to wear this dress,” Emelie whispered. “I want to wear it more than anything else in the world, Gabriel. My answer is yes, and that’s all that matters.”

Ladybug smiled. “What a day.”

“What a day, indeed,” Gabriel said with a sigh. “I still can’t believe that woman married me, of all people.”

Ladybug chuckled. “You see? Forgetting this humble town, means forgetting everything that Emelie fell in love with about you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gabriel sighed again. “She’s not with me regardless now.”

Ladybug hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you’re wrong. Either way, our time is up.” She held her yoyo out to him. “Touch my yoyo and you’ll return home. My companion, the ghost of Miraculous Present, will visit you soon.”

Gabriel sighed. “Do I get a choice in that?”

Ladybug laughed lightly and shook her head. “Not a chance.”

“I didn’t think so,” Gabriel muttered. He tapped the yoyo and with a flash so bright that he had to shield his eyes again, he was back in his bed.

He opened his eyes. Everything looked normal. He was in his darkened room. He was still snuggled deep in his covers. Best of all, the room was ghost free.

He sighed with relief. “It was just a dream,” he whispered to himself. “A very vivid dream.”

“Dream about what?” a voice said beside him.

Gabriel paled. He silently cursed his luck and turned his head to face the source of the voice. There sat Chat Noir right beside his head. Gabriel let out a scream and jumped so far that he fell off the bed.

Chat Noir laughed. “Wow, you got some serious air, Hawkmoth!”

Gabriel groaned and sat up. “The Ghost of Miraculous Present, I presume?”

“Ding, ding,” Chat Noir laughed again and held his hand out for Gabriel. “Give the man a prize!”

Gabriel sighed and took the ghost’s hand. Chat Noir pulled Gabriel to his feet. Gabriel huffed. “I guess it wasn’t a dream after all.”

Chat Noir once more. “No, I guess not!” he grinned. “Come on! There’s a lot to show you and not much time to do it.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Chat Noir extended his baton and together, they launched to the sky. Gabriel let out a surprised gasp as they phased through the ceiling as though it was not there.

Chat Noir looked down and smiled. “Oh, would you look at that? I see our stop already.”

“Wha—,” Gabriel’s question quickly turned into a scream as the baton abruptly shortened and they freefell through the sky. He closed his eyes as the ground quickly approached.

Suddenly, the air was calm. Chat Noir chuckled, “Okay, you baby.  You can open your eyes now.”

Gabriel breathed heavily. He opened one eye and when he confirmed they were safe on the ground, he opened the other. He recognized where they were immediately. “My son’s room?” he asked. “Seriously? We couldn’t just walk down the hall?”

Chat Noir laughed. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Gabriel shot him a glare. “You irritate me even more than the other ghost.”

“Speaking of which,” Chat Noir said. “My little Bugaboo said you had a good trip through memory lane. And then you said something interesting. That being the man that Emelie loved didn’t matter anymore because she’s missing.”

“What of it?”

Chat Noir smiled. “Glad you asked. Because, I think she’s still here. In fact, I’m looking at her right now.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Chat Noir pointed to Adrien. “You’re mistaken. That is my son.”

“And the spitting image of his mother,” Chat Noir retorted. “He’s her proudest accomplishment. She poured her soul into that boy. He’s an extension of her.”

They both quieted and looked at Adrien. The teen sighed as he played foosball by himself, a look of boredom covering his face.

“He’s up pretty late considering it’s a school night,” Gabriel muttered.

“You’re up pretty late,” Plagg unknowingly echoed Gabriel’s words. “Can’t sleep?”

Adrien shook his head. “I’ve done something to upset Father. He really hates me this time.”

“What makes you say that?” Plagg and Gabriel said together. Gabriel scowled. Had he left such a hole as a father that this little kwami felt it necessary to fill the void?

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. “I just get that feeling. Maybe my last photoshoot didn’t turn out the way he expected. Or maybe he found out I’m not the best fencer in the class anymore. Or maybe…”

“Maybe he found out you’re Chat Noir,” Plagg suggested with a laugh.

Adrien chuckled. “That would be a disaster. Even if I save the city on the daily basis, he’ll kill me for the heck of it. Especially with the way I act as Chat Noir.”

“What are you talking about?” Plagg asked, lightly swatting Adrien on the forehead. “It was a joke, kid! He’d be proud of you. You’re a great kid and a great hero. He’d be lucky to know the truth about you.”

“I don’t know about that, Plagg.”

“Then let’s agree to disagree.”

Adrien laughed. “Fine by me,” he said. “It’s a good thing we won’t ever have to test that theory. He’d actually have to pay attention to me to figure out the truth.”

“How about a midnight stroll, kid?” Plagg suggested. “It might soothe you enough for you to get some sleep.”

“Good idea,” Adrien agreed with a nod. “Plagg, claws out!” He transformed into Chat Noir and slipped out of the room.

Gabriel stood dumbfounded. He looked at the ghost. “Is that how you feel? That I’d hate you if because you’re Chat Noir? That you have to be the best at everything or lose my love?”

The ghost sighed. “I might look like Chat Noir right now, but I can’t answer that question,” he replied. “But something tells me that your son truly feels that way.”

Gabriel shook his head. “I was upset when I found out, yes,” he admitted. “But I don’t hate my son. I love him.”

“Have you told him that lately?”

Gabriel racked his brain, trying to think of an instance when he did, only to come up short. “I thought he knew,” he finally settled on saying. “I was never good with words.”

“It’s why you made dresses for Emelie,” the ghost said with an understanding nod. “It was your way of expressing your love.”

Gabriel nodded. “Exactly.”

“What did you get Adrien for his birthday, Hawkmoth?” Chat Noir asked.

Gabriel bit his lip. “Nathalie picked out his present this year. A scarf.”

“A scarf she stole from a fourteen-year-old girl with a crush,” the ghost said with a chuckle. “It’s love, sure, but not your love. Tell me, what did you get him the year before?”

“A pen,” Gabriel answered quickly.

“Ah, very good,” Chat Noir said, sarcasm laced in his words. “And what makes it even more sentimental—it’s the same pen you got him three years in a row.”

Gabriel sighed. “I see your point.”

Chat Noir chuckled. “Good,” he said. “You see, Hawkmoth, there’s a reason we start your journey with the Ghost of Miraculous Past before visiting me. You have to understand who you were in the past first.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“The more you distance yourself from the man Emelie fell in love with,” the ghost explained. “The less you are the father that your son deserves. That HER son deserves. Emelie never questioned your love for her. Why should your child do that?”

Gabriel stood silently, stewing over the ghost’s words. His expression steeled. “Today was an off day. He loves me. I know that. I love him. He knows that. If you’re done wasting my time, take me back.”

Chat Noir sighed. He held out his baton. “Touch this and you will return to your bed. My companion, the Ghost of Miraculous Futures will visit you next. He will be the final ghost to visit you tonight.”

Gabriel reached for the baton. Chat Noir suddenly pulled it away. “Gabriel, listen,” he said. “I did not show you this to hurt your pride or insinuate that you’re a bad father. I truly want a life of happiness for you.”

“The baton,” Gabriel growled. Chat Noir put it back in his reach and he touched it. With a flash, he returned to laying in his bed.

Gabriel sighed, trying to relax off the tension his last ghostly encounter caused. “What does a stupid ghost know about the relationship with my son? He’s my son! I know him better than—.”

Whatever thought Gabriel was going to voice was lost. A white butterfly floated above his face. He frowned and sat up. “How did you escape the lair, little one?” Another appeared, then another.

“What?” Gabriel said as he got out of bed. “Where are you all coming from?”

Of course, the butterflies did not answer. Instead they all fluttered away in the same direction, as if beckoning him to follow. He wearily followed. “After the night I had, this has bad idea written all over it…” Still he followed.

The butterflies phased through the door and after checking that he could, too, he followed again. The butterflies sped up, until they forced Gabriel into a run in to keep up.

Suddenly the hallway became darker than it already was, and the butterflies disappeared. Gabriel gasped and moved to stop, but not before he ran into someone at full speed. The person he tackled seemed to be prepared, barely even moving even though a fully-grown man pummeled into him. Gabriel, on the other hand, hit with a grunt and fell to the ground.

The man he ran into turned to face him. Gabriel’s eyes widened. “You’re…me…?”

The Ghost of Miraculous Future took the form of Hawkmoth. Unlike the two ghosts before him, he made no effort to help Gabriel to his feet. He turned away and began to walk off.

Gabriel scrambled to his feet. “Hey, wait for me!” he called, quickly following behind. Once he caught up, he asked, “Where are you taking me, Ghost?”

The ghost said nothing. It simply kept walking until they came to a humble but quaint house in the suburbs of the city. They stopped by a window. Hawkmoth pointed to the window, silently commanding Gabriel to look inside.

Perhaps it was the ghost’s appearance or commanding presence, but something about him made Gabriel want to comply immediately. He looked through the window.

Two children ran through the kitchen, a little boy that bore a striking resemblance to Adrien and a little girl that wore her hair in dark pigtails. A woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties followed behind. “Okay, at the table you two!” she lightly commanded. “Or else I’ll eat the ice cream all by myself!”

“No!” both children cried at the same time. They hurriedly climbed into their seats.

Someone out of the room let out an entertained laugh. The owner of the laugh walked into the kitchen as well. Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Adrien?”

Hawkmoth simply nodded.

“How old is he? 25? 26? Are those his children? Is that his wife?”

The ghost nodded again.

“Your children only behave for ice cream, Kitty,” the woman said with crossed arms and a chuckle.

“Nonsense, my Lady,” Adrien laughed. Gabriel understood now. His son was fated to marry whoever that was under the Ladybug mask. Adrien continued, “They also behave for macaroons and cupcakes.”

“Oh, silly me,” the woman said sarcastically.

“Yes, silly you, Marinette,” Adrien laughed again, pulling the ice cream from the freezer.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but it did nothing to the alter the smile covering her face. “Give me that.” She took the ice cream from his hands. She started to scoop it into bowls. The phone started to ring in the distance. “Could you get that, Adrien?”

Adrien nodded and went to answer the phone. “Hello?”

Marinette handed the ice cream to the children, glancing at her husband every time he let out a “yes’ and “I see.” She fixed ice cream for herself and him.

“Okay,” Adrien finally said. “Thank you for telling me.” He hung up the phone and returned to Marinette’s side.

“What was that about?” she asked, handing him a bowl of ice cream.

“It was the prison,” Adrien replied, eating a spoonful of ice cream. “He’s finally dead.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and concern. “What?! How?”

“Apparently a new guy’s daughter had been hurt in the final battle,” Adrien explained, completely unfazed by the story he was telling. “It was temporary, thanks to you, of course, but that sort of thing stays with you. The new guy realized who he was and taught him a lesson before the guards could even react.”

“That’s horrible!” Marinette cried.

Adrien shrugged. “At least we don’t have to lie to the kids about him being dead anymore,” he mumbled. “I’m glad he’s out of our lives for good.”

“But he’s still your father, Adrien.”

Those were the words that left Gabriel numb. They echoed through his head.

_He’s still your father, Adrien._

It hit Gabriel like a ton of bricks. They were talking about him. He was fated to die in prison, and his son did not even care. He’d never meet his grandchildren. They already believed him to be dead.

“Some father,” Adrien muttered. “He always resented me, but it got worse when we stopped him. He openly despised me. He was the bad guy and I’m the one that got punished. Your parents—the ones that took me in when I had nothing—are more of my parents than he ever was. He…he never loved me.”

“That’s not true!” Gabriel cried. They could not hear him, of course, and he knew that, but he still needed to say it. “I-I was mad! I was stupid! I’ve always loved you, son! You have such a beautiful family! I want to meet them! I’d do anything to meet them!”

Marinette and Adrien continued their conversation, completely unfazed by the man breaking down outside their window. “Are you going to the funeral?” she asked softly.

“What funeral?” Adrien asked. “Let the prison bury him. He still has 200 years of his sentence to serve.”

Gabriel openly sobbed. He turned to the ghost and gripped him tight, as if it was the only thing keeping him connected to reality. “Take me back! Take me back, please!” he begged. “Let me fix this! Please! Please! Please!”

Hawkmoth kept his cold expression as Gabriel broke down. He silently lifted his cane.

Gabriel wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. “J-just touch it, right?” he asked. “And I’ll be back home?”

Hawkmoth slowly nodded.

In stark contrast, Gabriel frantically nodded. “O-okay. Thank you. Thank you.” He touched the cane and it emitted a flash like the Miraculous weapons before it.

When it dimmed, Gabriel sat in his bed again. He touched his eyes. They were still wet. That was proof enough for him that everything that happened was completely real. He looked at the clock. 6 a.m. Hopefully Adrien returned from his ungodly-hour-escapade by now.

Gabriel flipped the covers away, grabbed something off his nightstand, and rushed out of his room. He ran to Adrien’s room just in time to see Nathalie knocking on the door.

“Nathalie,” he called, still retaining his calm demeanor despite his heart racing. “I’ll take it from here. Thank you.”

Nathalie looked at him in surprise. “O-okay,” she managed to say. She held out the tablet for him. “Here’s his schedule for today.”

“Clear it,” Gabriel said. “In fact, email me with the extra-curricular activities he actually enjoys. Clear the rest from his schedule, starting with piano lessons.”

The surprise on Nathalie’s face stayed. “Y-yes, Sir. If that’s what you wish.”

Gabriel offered her a sincere and warm smile. “Thank you, Natalie.” He opened the door to Adrien’s room and walked inside.

Adrien let out a groan and his eyes fluttered open. “Father…?”

“Hello, son,” Gabriel said. He sat on the edge of the bed. “I trust you slept well?”

Adrien nodded and rubbing the lingering tiredness out of his eyes. He sat up. “Yes, of course,” he replied. “Am I running late?”

Gabriel shook his head. “No,” he said. “I wanted to give you something. I don’t know if I was supposed to hand it to you or Ladybug, but this seemed…right.”

“Me or…” Adrien asked in slight confusion.

Gabriel took Adrien’s hand and slipped the item from his nightstand inside. Adrien frowned and looked down at it. His eyes widened. “The Butterfly Miraculous? It was you?!”

Gabriel nodded, a tinge of hurt paining his heart at his son’s incredulous tone. “Yes,” he said softly. “It was me. You see, son, I had a wish. And I thought that I would stop at nothing to have it come true.” He took a deep breath, then continued, “As it turns out, I was wrong. I still have that wish, but if the cost is losing you, it’s not worth it. Nothing is worth losing you, son.”

It took Adrien a second to process what his father said. The entire moment seeming surreal. Gabriel said the words that he unknowingly longed for. He hugged his father. “I love you,” he shakily whispered.

Gabriel smiled softly and returned with a hug of his own. “I don’t say it enough, but I love you, too, Adrien.”

.

.

.

Bonus:

“But I’ll haunt you from beyond if you don’t come to my funeral.”

“What was that, Father?”

“Oh, I was just saying that I really, really, love you, son.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the story! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~Koneko~


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